Haiti sees aid boost from Bill Clinton appointment
By Joseph Guyler Delva
PORT-AU-PRINCE, May 20 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton's role as U.N. special envoy to Haiti will help raise world awareness of its plight as the poorest state in the Americas, Haiti's prime minister said on Wednesday.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week named Clinton, who has sought international support for Haiti's reconstruction, to be his special envoy to the Caribbean state, which was battered by riots and hurricanes last year.
Praising Clinton as a "great friend of Haiti," Haitian Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis told Reuters he was instrumental in helping her government win $324 million in new aid commitments at an April donors' conference in Washington.
"We will work with him to better make the case of Haiti to the international community and to build a new, solid and efficient partnership to improve the Haitian people's living conditions," Pierre-Louis said.
Haiti's people are the poorest in the Americas and the tiny state's fragile economy was pummeled by a series of major hurricanes last year that caused mudslides and flooding, killing about 800 people. This came hard on the heels of a global food crisis that had pushed up staple food prices.
According to the U.S.-based international relief agency Food For The Poor, the average family in Haiti lives on less than $2 a day. Without immediate action, thousands of malnourished Haitians may die, Food For the Poor says.
Diplomats have said Clinton's appointment could attract investment to Haiti and help stabilize the country. Riots sparked by rocketing food prices caused the government's ouster last year. The United Nations has 9,000 peacekeeping troops and police deployed in Haiti to help maintain stability.
The U.N says low labor costs, proximity to the United States and Canada, and the duty-free access it will enjoy in the U.S. market for the next nine years could underpin Haiti's future economic growth.
On Haiti's streets, expectations were high that Clinton's appointment would increase international support and resources to raise living standards.
"I think with his influence he can help improve things here," said 37-year-old Joseph Francois, a school teacher.
The former president is married to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Some saw Haiti's development problems as so huge, they doubted his intervention could bring immediate improvement.
"There is no doubt Bill Clinton loves Haiti and we love him too," 25-year-old university student Mirlande Jeannot said. "But it would be very unrealistic to believe that things would significantly change here any time soon because of Clinton's new function. But I think he will do what he can."
June 1 marks the official start of hurricane season, but bad weather has already taken a toll. Floods caused by torrential rains over the past few days killed two people near the southern town of Les Cayes, according to local authorities. Houses and crops were destroyed. (Additional reporting by Jane Sutton, Editing by Pascal Fletcher)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, May 20 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton's role as U.N. special envoy to Haiti will help raise world awareness of its plight as the poorest state in the Americas, Haiti's prime minister said on Wednesday.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week named Clinton, who has sought international support for Haiti's reconstruction, to be his special envoy to the Caribbean state, which was battered by riots and hurricanes last year.
Praising Clinton as a "great friend of Haiti," Haitian Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis told Reuters he was instrumental in helping her government win $324 million in new aid commitments at an April donors' conference in Washington.
"We will work with him to better make the case of Haiti to the international community and to build a new, solid and efficient partnership to improve the Haitian people's living conditions," Pierre-Louis said.
Haiti's people are the poorest in the Americas and the tiny state's fragile economy was pummeled by a series of major hurricanes last year that caused mudslides and flooding, killing about 800 people. This came hard on the heels of a global food crisis that had pushed up staple food prices.
According to the U.S.-based international relief agency Food For The Poor, the average family in Haiti lives on less than $2 a day. Without immediate action, thousands of malnourished Haitians may die, Food For the Poor says.
Diplomats have said Clinton's appointment could attract investment to Haiti and help stabilize the country. Riots sparked by rocketing food prices caused the government's ouster last year. The United Nations has 9,000 peacekeeping troops and police deployed in Haiti to help maintain stability.
The U.N says low labor costs, proximity to the United States and Canada, and the duty-free access it will enjoy in the U.S. market for the next nine years could underpin Haiti's future economic growth.
On Haiti's streets, expectations were high that Clinton's appointment would increase international support and resources to raise living standards.
"I think with his influence he can help improve things here," said 37-year-old Joseph Francois, a school teacher.
The former president is married to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Some saw Haiti's development problems as so huge, they doubted his intervention could bring immediate improvement.
"There is no doubt Bill Clinton loves Haiti and we love him too," 25-year-old university student Mirlande Jeannot said. "But it would be very unrealistic to believe that things would significantly change here any time soon because of Clinton's new function. But I think he will do what he can."
June 1 marks the official start of hurricane season, but bad weather has already taken a toll. Floods caused by torrential rains over the past few days killed two people near the southern town of Les Cayes, according to local authorities. Houses and crops were destroyed. (Additional reporting by Jane Sutton, Editing by Pascal Fletcher)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved.
Woods home after car crash